Best places to eat outside in the UK

Londoners who find Borough too hectic head to the railway arches of Maltby Street Market in Bermondsey for luscious St John doughnuts, Bar Tozino's ham and cupcakes from Bea's of Bloomsbury. Queue for a gargantuan Monty's sarnie: Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and enough brisket to dislocate a well-oiled jaw. After all that, down a Bloody Mary with Little Bird's citrusy gin.

In the 14th century, the street beyond the foliage-coated suntrap garden of this historical pub was probably considered busy; by modern standards, it's idyllically peaceful. Spit-roasted local meat is worth ordering; crab and lobster are landed on the beach 10 minutes' stroll down the road.

The Mason Arms, Branscombe Village, Devon, England (+44 1297 680300; www.masonsarms.co.uk). Open daily noon-2.15pm and 6.30pm-9pm. About £40 for two

So ethical it even conserves artists (there are four studios in this Victorian walled garden), the Ethicurean - now with a Bib Gourmand - serves food mostly found on its doorstep: smoked deer loin, succulent breaded ox tongue in duck stock, goat bacon and other oddly named delicacies such as hairy bittercress. Sip apple juice from the orchard and admire the view of the Mendip hills beyond before picking up a copy of the new Ethicurean Cookbook (Ebury Press, £25) to recreate the recipes at home.

With its spiky greenery, nets and fringed pink parasols ruffling in the breeze, this amazing café beside Chesil Beach resembles an octopus's garden. At low tide, you can see the oyster beds that provide your dinner, unless you're brave enough to order a whole crab, which comes with tools to extract every last morsel.

This place atop the National Museum does its landlord proud, what with dishes such as roulade of trout smoked in Inverawe and scallops hand-dived in Mull. They're all served on a terrace so snappily modern (curved concrete and glinting steel designer chairs) that it provides a marvellous contrast to the medieval view: Edinburgh Castle jabs the horizon, with Greyfriars Kirk visible, too.

The Tower Restaurant, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, Scotland (+44 131 225 3003; www.tower-restaurant.com). About £65 for two

The fish and chips are good here, but the fresh salmon cakes, fried smelts and New Forest ice cream are the superstars. The blue-frame windows of architect Asif Khan's concrete container open onto a gorgeous beach, where long tables allow for convivial consumption of food and drink with a view of the River Arun. This place's striking big sister, East Beach Café, is five minutes by ferry or an hour's scenic walk.

West Beach Café, Ropewalk, Littlehampton, West Sussex (+44 1903 718153). About £25 for two

Astroturf-green underfoot and scattered with planter boxes, wicker chairs and smart sofas, this truly splendid sixth-floor rooftop terrace has a spectacular panorama of the old colleges further down the Cam. Scan the skyline as you enjoy a chilled Martini and a steak sandwich from the grill.

Even Rose Gray's untimely death in 2010 hasn't caused standards to waver at this pioneering, 25-year-old restaurant. It's not cheap, but then every tomato is deep vermilion, every basil leaf a fragrant green, and the terrace - with a river view, if you sit tall - is one of the city's loveliest outdoor hangouts. Booking essential.

The River Café, Thames Wharf, Rainville Road, London W6 (+44 20 7386 4200; www.rivercafe.co.uk). Open 12.30pm-2.15pm and 7pm-9pm, Mon-Sat; noon-3pm, Sun. About £120 for two

You can munch sausage baguettes or bacon sarnies among creaking boughs at this crazy treehouse above the River Aln. In the evening the deck becomes a lofty drinks terrace (with French and Chilean wines by the glass) for the main restaurant, which has eccentric wooden chairs and trees growing through the floor.

Is anything more satisfying than relaxing while others toil? On the deck of this working Edwardian boathouse raise a glass of Provençal rosé and enjoy the splish of oars and the grunts of those rash enough to wield them. You get roasted scallops or grilled beef and views of the River Cherwell; they get hot, bothered and hungry.

This trendy eyrie has a cheery jumble of chairs, crates and planters, and a view of East London's hotchpotch architecture. Street vendors and caterers such as Big Apple Hotdogs and Storythyme (gourmet barbecue food served up with stories) do pop-ups. The little bar has cocktails perfumed with herbs from the rooftop allotment. You need to sign up as a member downstairs.

This is an old-fashioned restaurant with rooms - and even with its own cricket team. There's a large terrace perfumed by the contents of the wood-fired oven and a garden looking towards the South Downs, where the smooth lawn contrasts with the busy sizzle of a brick barbecue serving lobster, burgers and everything in between.

The Griffin Inn, Fletching, East Sussex, England (+44 1825 722890; www.thegriffininn.co.uk). Open noon-2.30pm and 7pm-9.30pm, Mon-Fri; 12pm-3pm and 7pm-9.30pm, Saturday; noon-3pm and 7pm-9pm, Sunday. About £60 for two

This restaurant is a marble, wood and glass marvel, cantilevered over the charming old harbour where ferries once made their way to France. Local boy (and former Gordon Ramsay protégé) Mark Sargeant has designed a canny menu of Kentish delicacies, from silky smoked-coley brandade to a Bloody Mary with pickled samphire or, for the adventurous, the whelks that locals would have snacked on back when this seaside town was fashionable.

Next to a graceful 18th-century mansion with acres of greenery, statuary and swans, this award-winning white stone-and-glass café is fiercely modern, with pretty fuschia-coloured metal tables. There's a winsome brunch and lunch menu, including sandwiches such as spiced ham with homemade piccalilli, and red onion, taleggio and thyme.

Chiswick House Café, Chiswick House and Gardens, Burlington Lane, London W4 (+44 208 995 6356; www.chiswickhousecafe.com). Open 9am-5.30pm, Mon-Fri; 9am-6pm, Sat-Sun. About £20 for two

A barbecue, an outdoor bar and a specialist cheese counter with more than 40 varieties mean that human visitors are as cared for as the horses which were once stabled here. Get your burger or halloumi skewer from the roaring grill, relax on the flagstone terrace and watch the Bridgewater Canal slide calmly between thundering trains and chattering diners.

Dining at this two-tier deck above the tumbled rocks of Steephill Cove is like eating on a boat. Cream chairs face the Channel; at high tide you're close enough to feel the sea spray. The Wheeler family has fished here for 500 years, and their fresh crab and lobster (lunch only) need just homemade mayo. Vanessa's desserts (raspberry crème brûlée, lemon cheesecake) are fabulous.

This super-slick new spot is open until properly late (3am), with incredible views from St Paul's to Big Ben. Eat witty finger food (KFC is Korean-fried cauliflower coated in tangy batter) as you lounge on low white sofas and listen to loud beats.

Radio Rooftop Bar, ME Hotel, 336-337 The Strand, London WC2 (www.melia.com). Open noon-1am, Mon-Wed; 12pm-3am Thurs-Sat; noon-midnight, Sun. About £40 for two

A lunchtime array of carefully picked stalls serve delicacies such as spicy burgers with an Indian twist and gigantic lamb and houmous wraps where the flatbread is pummelled and griddled to order. It's all helping to make this spacious boulevard - on part of a building site near St Pancras - an unlikely food haven.

Behind this old pub, refurbished so that the water in the ladies' taps even changes colour, rears a two-storey glass box overlooking the River Dee. Lawns slope to a landing stage and clouds of greenery across calm water - an utterly English view that contrasts with the menu's exotica: cumin lamb burger; seven-vegetable tagine.

An excellent fish counter has made this unfussy café, below the cliffs at Chesil, famous. It is right on the National Trust beach, so you can walk off delicious treats (blueberry and white-chocolate muffin; gooseberry and elderflower cheesecake) from their own bakery, or wade out with a snorkel and spy on the spider crabs that are then cooked to sweet succulence in a special boiler.

Five minutes' walk from College Lake nature reserve, on the Grand Union Canal, sits a charming inn with real ales and nice twists on pub grub: smoked bacon in the bubble and squeak, pork chop in cider and cream sauce. There's a fledgling wild orchard, and the reservoir birds frequently compete with the live bands for the music score.

This white building is bathed in wondrous light that has attracted artists - and Virginia Woolf, whose To The Lighthouse was apparently inspired by the view from nearby Gwithian Beach. Inside, the local catch is turned into superlative Asian and Mediterranean dishes (monkfish curry, Cornish crab linguine), aided by a next-door plot growing more than 50 different vegetables. Listen to the waves and admire a spectacular view of pale sand, crazy surfers and that famous lighthouse.

Lounge beside this 1930s Art Deco lido with an aged-beef burger and a craft beer, and wonder at the brave fools swimming outdoors during a British summer. If you squint on a sunny day, you could almost be in Ibiza. By night, the cool waters flicker with reflected candlelight.

Askham already has a 230ft double herbaceous border and centuries-old kitchen gardens, so it would be churlish not to have a restaurant - in a Grade-II-listed stone barn, naturally. Perch on picnic benches under sweet-smelling apple trees, or wander further into the grounds to see rare-breed pigs, goats and a duckpond. The wood-burning oven turns out fresh pizzas laden with Askham's herbs, vegetables and spicy sausage; the delicious mixed berry sorbet (made out of fruit picked from the garden) is also homemade.

Take an old-fashioned bite - a prawn Marie Rose or Ploughman's sandwich - out to the orchard that inspired homesick former lodger Rupert Brooke to pen an ode to its buzzing beauties ('Is there honey still for tea?'). Prop a deckchair beneath apples, plums and quinces, polish your fresh-picked pudding on your sleeve and ponder the reparations of afternoon tea: scones, wine and, of course, honey.

Japanese-Peruvian-Brazilian fusion isn't for everyone, so if you don't fancy eating yellowtail and jalapeño with hungry bankers, just drink in the sensational 39th-floor view. The Gherkin is almost close enough to toss a Martini over it.

An eclectic mix of stalls sprawls beyond this imposing 1740s building, particularly on Fridays, when the food section spills into Wine Street. Beneath the canvas are bright splodges of colour: fruit and veg, chilli-speckled Szechuan hotpots and American Kitchen's decadent pies (look out for the peanut-butter-filled Fat Elvis).

Hampshire is a bountiful county, which partly explains the size of this enormous, cheery gathering. The Republic of Taste sell sweet and savoury tartlets; Cakes by Juliet offer fruit crumbles; Hampshire's own buffalo herd go into lean, flavourful burgers. There is local apple juice and cider to wash down all that good grub.

Belfast's thriving market, in a vast Victorian building, has 23 different fish stalls, and lunch options ranging from cured meats and cheese to more adventurous Caribbean delights. Live bands add atmosphere but to eat in peace, wander down to the riverside shipyards that were once the city's glory.